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‘AN EXHIBITION OF ETCHINGS BY 


REMBRANDT 


1606-1669 


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D. B. UPDIKE, THE MERRYMOUNT PRESS 





REMBRANDT VAN RIJN 
(1606-1669) 


HE opinion amongst etchers which enthrones 

Rembrandt as the king of their craft is the most 
recent instance of perfect unanimity amongst people of 
all nationalities. As we all say that Phidias was the great- 
est sculptor, Homer the greatest epic poet, and Shake- 
speare the greatest dramatist, so we are all agreed 
upon the world-wide supremacy of Rembrandt.... 
In his own lines of work there is no one in all history 
to be compared to Rembrandt; in artistic influence he 
has one equal, entirely unlike himself, and that is Ra- 
phael. ... They are the two most influential graphic 
artists of all time. P. G. Hamerron: “The Etchings 
of Rembrandt,” pp. 13-14. 


In the whole history of art Rembrandt stands out as 
one of the solitary and unapproachable personalities 
who have struck their own style, and stamped their 
influence, for good or for bad, on posterity. In his etched 
work his unique position is realized to even greater ad- 
vantage than in painting; for in the latter sphere Frans 
Hals, his senior by a few years, was not far behind in 
brilliance of brush and incisive delineation. But among 
contemporary etchers there was no one who combined 
the same mastery of medium with a tithe of his sig- 
nificance of expression. In fact, no worthy rival in this 
field can be found before the last century, and then in 
whom but Whistler? But in the range of his genius 
Rembrandt still stands alone. Let him handle the most 


€ iii } 


momentous scene from Scripture, a landscape, a piece 
of genre, the slightest study of still life—all alike are 
illumined by a power which never fails to pierce to the 
heart of things. Arruur M. Hinp: “A History of En- 
eraving and Etching” (Third Edition, 1923, p. 170). 


NOTE 
ON THE CATALOGUE OF THIS EXHIBITION 


F it be true that “in a multitude of counsellors there 

is wisdom,” it is equally true that in a multitude 
of Cataloguers there is confusion! Catalogues, critical, 
descriptive or chronological, of Rembrandt’s etchings 
have multiplied, keeping pace with the ever-widening 
stream of literature devoted to his Life and Works, 
until merely to mention the most significant frequently 
necessitates the use of not less than eight, distinct series 
of reference numbers : Gersaint and Daulby ; Bartsch, 
Rovinski and Seidlitz; Claussin; Wilson; Charles 
Blanc; Middleton; Dutuit; and Hind. 

In the present catalogue it has been thought best to 
give two reference numbers only: Bartsch and Rovin- 
ski for classification by subject, and to facilitate refer- 
ence to the essential “Atlas” (containing reproductions 
of every etching in every known state); and Hind 
for chronology and designation of “States,” since his 
numbering and arrangement is that followed in the 
finest existing collection—the British Museum — 
which alone of all great museums is the first to realize 
that a chronological arrangement is essential for a logi- 
cal study of Rembrandt’s work and development as the 
greatest etcher the world yet has known. 


< iv } 


CATALOGUE 


Portraits of Rembrandt, his Mother 
and his Wife Saskia 


1. Rembrandt Bareheaded and Open-Mouthed 
Bartsco 13 Hinp 31 
Signed and dated: At. 1630 
Third State 


These little plates, and others, probably of the same date, or very 
near it, are executed with a fine point, and are distinguished by an ex- 
treme manual facility. The evident speed of their execution does not, 
however, prevent the artist from noticing the most minute truths of 
form and of light and shade, as, for example, in the learnedly reserved 
reflections in the shading of Rembrandt with an ofien Mouth. There 
may be haste in such work as this, but there is no carelessness, and as 
for vitality it is superabundant, both in the subjects and the execution. 
P. G. HaMERTon. 


2. Rembrandt in Cap and Scarf: The Face Dark 
Bartscuo 17 Hinp 108 
Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1633 
Second State 


Cottections: Sir Edward Astley, A. Alferoff, Ernest Theo- 
dor Rodenacker, Carl Schloesser, E. Smith, Jr., H. S. Theo- 
bald. 


3. Rembrandt leaning on a Stone Sill 
BartscH 21 Hinp 168 
Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1639 
Second State 


oan, 


Cottections: J. B. de Graaf, Dr. A. Strater 


The motive and pose of this portrait of himself were, perhaps, sug- 
gested to Rembrandt by Raphael’s portrait of Baldassare Castiglione 
(now inthe Louvre), of which he made a sketch apparently at the 
auction in which it was sold in 1639. Rembrandt painted a somewhat 
similar portrait of himself in 1640 (National Gallery). Some sug- 
gestions may also have been found in Titian’s Ariosto (now in the 
National Gallery), which was at that time in Holland. ArTHur M. 
Hinp. 


The portrait of himself, Rembrandt leaning on a Stone Sill, is a 
splendid example of high culture in the art of etching, going far enough 
in the darks for the expression of power, but completely, even in the 
darkest parts, avoiding the mere thickness and density of printing 
ink, whilst the treble notes of this linear music are light and clear and 
faithfully true in tone. P. G. HamErTon. 


The thoughtful brow is already furrowed, and the habit of a fixed and 
searching look has drawn the skin down above the eyelids; yet, in 
spite of such signs that youth is departing, the utmost freshness of 
mind and body is expressed in this face. This is the face upon. which 
most modern representations of Rembrandt’s person are founded. 
H. KwnacxFuss. 


. Rembrandt drawing at a Window 
BartscH 22 Hinp 229 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1648 
Fourth State 


In an etching with a splendid effect of chiaroscuro, he shows himself 
busy at his work. He sits at a small window, with a round hat on his 
head, and draws in a sketch book which lies before him. The absolute 
certainty of the artist’s grip is expressed in his keenly observant look. 
H. Kwackruss. 


. Rembrandt with a Plumed Cap: Bust in an 
Oval 

BartscH 23 Huinp 210 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1634 


Third State. The oval made regular 
{2 } 


Despite the presence of the mole on the cheek, this is probably a fancy 
version by Rembrandt of his own likeness. ARTHUR M. Hinp. 


Of all the portraits considered as those of Rembrandt himself, this is 
one of the most celebrated, as much on account of its beauty as of the 
extreme rarity of impressions in the first state. CHARLES BLANC. 


. Rembrandt’s Mother seated at a Table look- 
ing to the Right 

BartscH 343 Huinp 52 

Signed: Az. f. Date attributed: 1631 

Third State 


CorttEections: Baron J. G. Verstolk van Soelen, Dr. A. 
Strater 


Literal truth to nature in drawing, which he discarded later for more 
abstract methods of representation, is particularly remarkable in this 
portrait. Every detail of the hands shows the faithfulness with which 
Rembrandt was working from life at this period. ARTHUR M. Hinp. 


. Saskia with Pearls in her Hair 
BartscH 347 Huinp 112 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1634 
Only State 


CoLLEcTiIon: Budapest Duplicate 


This is one of the most attractive of Rembrandt’s portraits of his 
wife Saskia, to whom he was married in June of the same year. 
ArtuHuR M. Hinp. 


. Saskia and Two Other Heads 
Bartscu 367 Hinp 153 
Date attributed: about 1637 


Second State 


The central study, if not the two others, is certainly taken from 
Saskia. ARTHUR M. Hinp. 
4 3 } 


9. Study of Saskia as St. Catherine (the ‘Little 


Jewish Bride”’ ) 

BartscuH 342 Huinp 154 

Signed and dated (in reverse): Rembrandt f. 1638 
Only State 


Cottection : Henry Brodhurst 


Scriptural and Religious Compositions 


Old Testament Subjects 


10. Abraham entertaining the Angels 


be A 


BartscH 29 Huinp 286 
Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1656 
Only State | 


The composition was suggested by one of Rembrandt’s drawings 
from Mohammedan-Indian miniatures. ARTHUR M. Hinp. 


Abraham casting out Hagar and Ishmael 
BartscH 30 Hind 149 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1637 

Only State 


CoLLectTion: Theodore Irwin 


All the qualities of Rembrandt are united to a high degree in this © 
print: beauty of expression, arrangement, delicacy, richness of detail, 
and chiaroscuro. CHARLES BLANc. 


This is one of the most perfectly delicate of all Rembrandt’s etch- 
ings. The sureness of the faint thin lines on which the expression of the 
faces chiefly depends, the masterly reservation of reflections and half- 
lights in open shading, the opportune omission of labor where omis- 
sion was better than toil, justify our admiration. P. G. HAMERTON. 


q 4 } 


12. 


13. 


14. 


15. 


Abraham and Isaac 

Bartscu 34 Hinp 214 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt 1645 
Only State 


Very striking is the small plate, etched in 1645, of Abraham and 
Isaac on the way to the scene of the sacrifice. They have reached the 
lonely mountain-top surrounded by clouds. Abraham, who appears 
in the rich Oriental costume which Rembrandt had invented for his 
patriarchs, has placed the pail containing fire on the ground, and 
turned round towards his boy; the latter, however, stands in amaze- 
ment . . . his childish intellect cannot take in what his father says to 
him. H. Kwacxruss. 


The Triumph of Mordecai 
BartscH 40 Hinp 172 

Date attributed: about 1640 or later 
Only State 


David in Prayer 

Bartscu 41 Huinp 258 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1652 
First State 


The David on his Knees has more “‘colour’’ but is near akin to the 
Tobit in pathetic intensity of sentiment. . . . King David is rather 
rudely drawn, and I will not undertake to defend the shading of his 
face, but he is thinking neither of crown nor harp, his whole soul is 
with the God of Israel. P. G. HamMErRrTon. 


New Testament Subjects 


The Angel appearing to the Shepherds 
Bartscu 44 Hinp 120 
Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1634 


a5 


16. 


17. 


Third State 


Cottections: Sir John Day, Brayton Ives 


In 1634 Rembrandt had etched the large Annunciation to the Shefr- 
herds, in which the landscape is of the same visionary kind as appears 
in the paintings. The general effect is of white on black, the supernat- 
ural effulgence in the sky, which so startles the shepherds and their 
flocks, calling out of the gloom mysterious waving heights of foliage 
and obscure gleams of distance. LAURENCE Binyon. 


No one has better realized these great Biblical scenes than Rem- 
brandt, no one more keenly felt their touching and simple poetry. 
The Angel appearing to the Shefherds has been the subject of many - 
pictures, but how often do they leave one cold at their representa- 
tions of this marvelous scene! Rembrandt shows here the two most re- 
markable sides of his genius — expression and chiaroscuro. CHARLES 
BLANC. 


The Circumcision 

Bartscu 47 H1np 274 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1654 
Second State 


The Presentation in the Temple 


Bartscu 49 Hinp 162 


Date attributed: “about 1639 (or possibly somewhat later, 
nearer to the time of the ‘Hundred Guilder Print,’ in which 
many of the same types recur) ”’ 


Second State 
Cottections: Berlin Museum Duplicate, Julius Hofmann 


This etching, especially in the dry-point work, seems in no impres- 
sion to have been quite successfully printed. Middleton suggested that 
this may have been owing to the softness of the metal, but the lack 
of effect is more probably due to the comparative confusion and want 
of concentration in the composition, added to light biting. ARTHUR M. 
Hinp. 


X 6 } 


HS. 


19. 


20. 


The Presentation in the Temple: In the Dark 
Manner 


Bartscu 50 Hitnp 279 
Date attributed: about 1654 
Only State 


The brilliancy of the Sacerdotal vestments is rendered here with a 
power so extraordinary that the plate is a great technical feat. The 
lines are coarse and rude, but so entirely synthetic and intelligent in 
their arrangement, that the splendor of gold, and jewels, and em- 
broidery, is fully suggested to the imagination. The high priest, who 
is standing, is one of the most imposing figures amongst all the crea- 
tions of Rembrandt, who had a keen appreciation of Sacerdotal dignity 
and magnificence. P. G. HAMERTON. 


Christ between his Parents, returning from 
the Temple 

BartscH 60 HIND 278 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1654 

Only State 


Simpler and somewhat smaller in treatment, is a series of Scriptural 
plates, belonging to the year 1654; in contrast to the larger and 
broader plates of the same period they are cabinet pieces of exquisite 
delicacy. They are for the most part in pure etching (showing, in 
nearly every case, slight faults in biting repaired in their second states) , 
only the Christ between His Parents returning from Jerusalem being 
vigorously touched with the drypoint. ArRTHuR M. HInp. 


The Holy Family 


Bartscu 62 Hinp 95 
Signed Rt. Date attributed: about 1632 
Only State 


Cottection: Duc d’ Arenberg 


via 


Zi: 


22. 


23. 


The Virgin and Child with the Cat 
BartscH 63 Huinpd 275 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1654 

First State 


The attitude of the Virgin and Child is borrowed from an engraving 
by Andrea Mantegna. ArTHUR M. Hinp. 


Christ seated Disputing with the Doctors 
Bartscu 64 Hinp 277 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1654 

(a) First State 


Co.tection: Bregeleben 


(6) Second State 


Christ Preaching 
BartscH 67 Hinp 256 
Date attributed: about 1652 


_ Only State 


I have said that Rembrandt equalled this plate (the “‘ Hundred 
Guilder Print’’) in character study in one instance only. This instance 
is the little plate of Christ Preaching. Though less important than 
the ‘““Hundred Guilder Print,’’ the Christ Preaching is certainly as 
strong as, if not stronger than, its great companion in its drawing of 
human character. The profound attention of the assembly, and the 
marvellous expression of their faces as they listen to the words of 
Christ, make animpression upon us that cannot be forgotten, and weare 
asif we ourselves were there listening to what the Preacher has to say. 
ATHERTON CurTIS. 


No artist has ever been able to give a more sympathetic picture of 
love for mankind than that of the Saviour standing in a dark space on 
a brilliantly lighted eminence, and speaking, with upraised hands, to 
the people gathered round him. . . . The whole forms a wonderful 
painter’s poem on the text: ““I am the true Light.’? H. Knacxruss. 


{8 } 


24. 


25. 


26. 


Christ and the Woman of Samaria 
BartscH 70 Hinp 294 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1658 
Third State 

Cottections: A. Artaria, A. Alferoff 


The Raising of Lazarus: The Smaller Plate 
BartscH 72 Huinp 198 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1642 

First State 


At the outset of the second period Rembrandt returned to plates of 
more modest compass; but how much power is gained by economy 
and concentration of line may be remarked in the small Raising of 
Lazarus of 1642, one of his most perfect compositions. ARTHUR M. 
Hinp. 


The Agony in the Garden 

Bartscu 75 Hinp 293 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 165- (about 1657?) 
Only State 

(a) On India (Japan?) paper 


The finest impressions are on India paper and full of burr. C. H. 
MIDDLETON. 


(2) On Holland paper 
Cottection: Earl of Aylesford 


Whatever his definite beliefs, there is no question that the Bible stories 
always remained for him the noblest vehicle for the contemplation and 
interpretation of human character. . . . He shows his kinship with the 
world’s greatest creators in never seeking after new subjects. The 
oldest, the simplest, the most direct gave him the greatest opportu- 
nity for the play of his own personality in their rendering. . . . Inthe 
vividness of his presentation he might be rendering scenes that he had 


x 9 } 


27. 


lived through himself. In this depth of feeling he was almost unique 
amongst contemporary painters. ARTHUR M. Hinp. 


Here all the sorrows unite to overwhelm his soul and plunge it into 
an ocean of bitterness. . . . What depth of feeling ! What poetry in 
the setting of this august drama, and what grandeur in so small a 
frame! All nature mourns: the sky hides behind sinister clouds. 
CHARLES BLANC. 


Christ before Pilate: Large Plate 
BartscH 77 Huinp 143 
Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1636 


(a) Second State. Three or four impressions only are 
known in this State 


Two impressions of the First State are in the British Museum (one 
touched by Rembrandt in brown oil colour indicating changes in form 
of arch and curtain to the right, etc.) and a third impression is in 
Amsterdam. In the First State (unfinished) the figure of Pilate and 
the group in front of him are left white. In the Second State ** the 
group of Pilate and the five Jews has been added (presumably etched 
in by Rembrandt himself, and brought into harmony with the rest by 
means of graver work) ”’ and the date has been changed from 1635, 
of the First State, to 1636. 


Cottection: Mary J. Morgan 


(6) Fourth State. “Face of bald man in the small cap 
thrusting himself forward opposite Pilate shaded 
(with parallels down from left to right) so as to be less 
prominent” 


This plate reproduces in reverse with slight modifications a grisaille 
by the master in the National Gallery (the date on which seems to 
be 1634, and not 1633 as Bode reads). There is a great deal of graver 
work mixed with the etching, and all except the central group is sup- 
posed by most recent authorities to be largely the work of some pupil 
or assistant, the names of Bol (by Middleton), Lievens (by Haden), 
Salomon Koninck (by de Vries), and Van Vliet having all been sug- 
gested.’’ ARTHUR M. Hinp. 


As an example of his genius, the etching of Christ presented by Pilate 
to the people, known as the ‘‘ Great Ecce Homo,”’ may be cited. It is 
a grand composition: the surging mass of the populace in the fore- 


€ 10 } 


28. 


29. 


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ground; the cruel priests and Pharisees importuning Pilate ; Pilate 
himself, false, vacillating, and temporizing ; and above all, the Man of 
Sorrows, crowned with thorns, and looking upward with a wearied 
and hunted expression that goes straight to the heart. FREDERICK 
KeppEL: “‘ The Golden Age of Engraving,’’ page 12. 


Christ Crucified between the Two Thieves: An 
Oval Plate 

BartscH 79 Hunp 173 

Date assigned: about 1640, or later 

First State 


Christ Carried to the Tomb 

BartscH 84 Huinp 215 

Signed: Rembrant. Date assigned: about 1645 
Only State 


The slightly later Entombment discloses a growing freedom of design, 
and the intimate force of the artist’s sympathy touches here the calmer 
depths of grief, which appeal to the Northerner so much more truly 
than the harrowing and theatrical distress of so many Italian entomb- 
ments. ARTHUR M. Hinp. 


The Entombment 

Bartscu 86 Hinp 281 

Date assigned: about 1654 

First State. Etching in open lines 


Cortections: Karl Eduard von Liphart, Carl Schlésser, E. 
Smith, Jr., Paul Davidsohn 


Among the noblest of the Scriptural plates are five subjects of about 
1654-5. The Entombment is perhaps the most splendid example of 
the vigorous and open etching of the master’s latest phase, and of the 
manner in which he achieved chiaroscuro by printing with a surface 
tint. There are rare early impressions showing the open line work 
printed from the cleanly wiped plate. Rembrandt added considerable 


€ 11 } 


$1. 


32. 


linear shading in the later states, but this is conceived rather as the 
groundwork than the main element of the chiaroscuro, which is 
largely a matter of printing. ... These plates and the wonderful 
Christ at Emmaus discloses more affinity with the Italian genius for 


composition than almost anything else in Rembrandt’s work. ARTHUR 
M. Hinp. 


The Baptism of the Eunuch 
Bartsco 98 Hunp 182 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1641 
Second State 


Coxtections: A. Artaria, J. D. Bohm, Friedrich Kalle, Theo- 
dore Irwin 


Religious Subjects 


The Death of the Virgin 
Bartscu 99 MHunp 161 
Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1639 


Third State. (Second State of Rovinski) 


Of all the plates of Rembrandt, Zhe Death of the Virgin is one that 
fascinates and moves me most. In all the qualities of art there are at 
least four of Rembrandt’s etchings which fully equal this; yet not 
one of them absorbs me so completely. The solemnity of fast-ap- 
proaching death, the gravity of the stately high-priest and the calm 
physician; the sorrow of others present, the pale face upon the pil- 
low, and the helpless hands upon the counterpane, — are elements 
of a scene which renews itself too frequently ever to lose its interest. 
In the upper air of the lofty room angels wait for the spirit which 
the nations will adore as the Queen of Heaven; and the scene has a 
grandeur more than royal, for it has the sublimity of Art. Consid- 
ered as etching, the work is so sound and right, so various in degrees 
of finish, and so masterly in choice and direction of line, that Zhe 
Death of the Virgin may be taken as one of the great typical exam- 
ples of what etching may be and ought to be. P. G. Hamerron. 


4 12 } 


33. 


34. 


35. 


Saint Jerome beside a Pollard Willow 
BartscH 103 Huinp 232 
Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1648 


(a) First State: before the signature and date. Five 


other impressions only in this State were known to 
Rovinski 


Cortections: Josef Camesina de Pomal, D. G. Arozarena, 


A. Alferoff, Seymour Haden 
(6) Second State. The signature and date added 


One of the most engaging pieces in his work. Dmrrri Rovtnsk1. 


Saint Francis beneath a Tree, Praying 
Bartscu 107 Huinp 292 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1657 

Second State 


Five or six impressions only are known in the First State 


Rembrandt has devoted one print only to Saint Francis; but this, 
which belongs to his latest manner, is one of his best: the effect of 
the dry-point is admirable, and the fervor of the Saint is perfectly 
expressed. EuGEnE Dututr. 


Seymour Haden rightly remarks that the figure of the Saint is en- 
tirely Italian in character, and that the background is inspired by 
Titian or Campagnola. Dmirri Rovinsk1. 


Fancy Compositions 


Medea: or the Marriage of Jason and Creusa 
BartscH 112 Huinp 235 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1648 

Fourth State 


€ 13 } 


36. 


37: 


38. 


39. 


40. 


The plate was designed to illustrate a tragedy of Medea, written by 
Rembrandt’s friend Jan Six, and published in Amsterdam, 1648. 
Artuur M. Hinp. 


A Cavalry Fight 
Bartscu 117 Hinp 100 
Date assigned: about 1632-3 
Second State 


Cottections: A. G. Thiermann, Berlin Museum Duplicate 


The Goldsmith 

BartscH 123 Huinp 285 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1655 
First State 


Jews in a Synagogue 

BartscH 126 HInpD 234 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1648 
First State 


Very rare. In the British Museum, Paris, Berlin, Frankfort, etc. 
Dmitri RovinskI. 


Cupid Resting 
BartscH 132 MHuinp 313 
Only State 


CottEctions: Jan Six, R. von Seydlitz, Brayton Ives 


The Card-Player 


Bartscu 136 Hinp 190 


Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1641 
{14 } 


First State 
Cottection : H. S. Theobald 


41. Sleeping Puppy 


Bartscu 158 Huinp 174 
Date attributed: about 1640? 
Third State 


Cottections: Baron J. G. Verstolk van Soelen; Samuel, 
Graf von Festetits 


Considered on its merits as a sensitive study from life, it is not unwor- 
thy of the master. ARTHUR M. Hinp. 


42. Beggar Seated on a Bank 


4:3. 


Bartscu 174 Huinp 11 
Signed and dated: Rt. 1630 
First State 


CoLtections: Hermann Weber, P. von Baldinger-Seiden- 
berg, Paul J. Sachs 


Classical Subjects 
Diana at the Bath 
Bartscu 201 Hinp 42 
Signed: Rt f. Date attributed: about 1631 
Only State 


Corrections: Ernest Theodor Rodenacher, A. G. Thier- 
mann, H.S. Theobald, Berlin Museum Duplicate 


An original chalk study for this subject (in reverse) is in the British 
Museum. The principal lines have been indented with the point, show- 
ing that it has been used in transferring the design to the grounded 
plate. ARTHUR M. Hinp. 

€{ 15 } 


44. Jupiter and Antiope: The Smaller Plate 


45. 


Bartscu 204 Huinp 44 
Signed: At. Date attributed: about 1631 
Third State 


Landscapes 


When, however, we turn to etching the case is entirely different. 
Here Rembrandt stands out as an inexplicable phenomenon of his 
time. He had no predecessors, he had no contemporaries, and he had 
no successors until the nineteenth century brought forth its great men. 
He stands there in the seventeenth century a unique figure, and no one 
can say from whence came his art. He does not show a mere ¢end- 
ency toward nineteenth century landscape. He is as modern as the men 
of the nineteenth century themselves; and while he has had his equals 
in two or three of them, he remains today an unsurpassed modern 
among the moderns. ATHERTON CuRTIS. 


Small Grey Landscape: A House and Tree be- 
side a Pool 


Bartscu 207 Hunn 175 
Date attributed: about 1640 
Only State 


CoLtection: University Library, Cambridge. Duplicate 


Asa study of light in landscape on so small a scale it is a masterpiece. 
ARTHUR M. Hinp. 


The little piece might well be called Twilight. We seem to be near 
the shores of a lake; light is fading out of the sky and scarcely per- 
mits us to discern any details ; the presence of a few figures and a 
human dwelling is felt rather than seen. All is gray and quiet; no- 
thing stands out saliently. It is the silvery evenness of tone which is 
the charm of this tiny plate, in no way striking, yet indefinably re- 
vealing a master’s hand. LaurENcE Biyyon. 


€ 16 } 


46. Six’s Bridge 


47. 


Bartscu 208 Huinp 209 
Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1645 
Third State 


Cottections: J. B. de Graaf, Earl of Aylesford, J. H. Haw- 
kins, Duke of Buccleuch 


Gersaint relates the tradition that this plate was etched against time for 
a wager at the country house of Rembrandt’s friend Jan Six, while 
the servant was fetching the mustard, that had been forgotten for a 
meal, from a neighbouring village. Vosmaer thought to recognize 
Hillegom in the background, near which was situated Six’s country 
seat of Elsbroek. ArTHuR M. Hinp. 


To the same year — 1645 — belongs the well-known Six’s Bridge, 
a plate in which the pure bitten line, with no close hatching or shadow- 
effect, is given full play. Of its kind, this is a perfect etching. Every- 
one knows the story of its being done while Six’s servant went to fetch 
the mustard. But there is nothing hasty or incomplete about it; the 
masterly economy of lines is perfectly satisfying in its absolute direct- 
ness and simplicity. LAURENCE BInyon. 


The Omval 


BartscH 209 Hinp 210 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt 1645 
Second State 

CoLLection: F. Gawet 


*“De Omval’’ is generally regarded by the natives as signifying the 
bend in the Amstel just outside Amsterdam rather than the village 
at this spot (so that “‘Omval’’ alone would be an incorrect title). 
ARTHUR M. Hinp. 


There is no doubt, however, about the willow in Zhe Omval. The 
gnarled, seamed trunk of an old tree, with its rugged wrinkles and 
smooth bosses, irresistibly invites the etcher’s needle ; and Rembrandt, 
like other etchers since, has evidently found a great enjoyment in this 
willow-stem, as in that other old willow to which he added, not very 
felicitously, a St. Jerome reading, spectacles on nose, and a perfunc- 
tory lion (Bartsch 103). Zhe Omval shows a different kind of com- 
position; the willow at the edge of a thicket, in whose shadow two 


a vee 


48. 


49. 


5O. 


lovers are embowered, divides the plate : the right and lower part is 
all light and open — a river-bank on whicha man moves down to the 
ferry, and the broad, sunny stream, and houses, masts, and wind- 
mills across the water — a picturesque river-side such as Whistler 
and Haden loved to etch. LaurENcE Brnyon. 


View of Amsterdam 

BartscH 210 Huinp 176 

Date attributed: about 1640 (or earlier?) 

Second State.(A single impression of a First State was 
discovered about 1912, and was then in the possession 
of Mr. Gustav Mayer, of Messrs. Colnaghi and Obach. 
In it a hare is shown running toward the left on the 


white space of meadow in the foreground immedi- 
ately below the square tower) 


Cottection: Marsden J. Perry 


In the little Amsterdam, as in nearly all these etchings, the sky is left 
absolutely clear and empty. And how far more truly it suggests to us 
the brightness of a cloudless day than the most successful of plein-air 
painting in vivid color, which stops the imagination instead of leaving 
it free and active ! This little plate is filled with air and sun. LAURENCE 
BInyon. 


Landscape with Sportsman and Dogs 
BartscH 211 Huinp 265 

Date attributed: about 1653 

Second State 


Cottection: Marsden J. Perry 


The Three Trees 
BartscH 212 Hinp 205 
Signed and dated: Rembrandt (?) f. 1643 


Only State 
€ 18 } 


Cottections: Earl of Aylesford, D. G. de Arozarena, Emile 
Galichon 


The Three Trees of 1643 is one of the rare examples in which Rem- 
brandt attempted a positive rendering of cloud and atmosphere, a 
problem in which some modern etchers have been more successful, 
and it stands apart from his other landscape plates in its fulness of 
detail and pictorial character. The by-play of the lovers amid the 
bushes (which also occurs in Zhe Omval) isa characteristic touch, and 
in no sense an indication, as has been suggested, of earlier work on the 
plate. ARTHUR M. Hinp. 


With the Zhree Trees of 1643, we come to the most famous of 
Rembrandt’s etched landscapes. This plate stands in the same sort 
of relation to the rest as the Will to the rest of his landscape paint- 
ings. It is the grandest and most typical, most expressive of the mas- 
ter’s temperament. Here the composition is less accidental, and more 
(so to speak) architectural. The group of three trees stands up darkly 
on a bank of high ground at the right. At the left one looks over the 
level fields to the horizon and a glimmer of distant sea. A thunder- 
storm is passing away, with contorted clouds piled in the upper sky 
and trailing over the plain, and rods of violent rain slant across the 
corner of the scene. For once Rembrandt builds up a landscape design 
out of sky and earth; and the something elemental which inspires 
it gives the etching a pregnancy and significance which are absent 
from the other landscapes, in themselves, at their best, more inti- 
mately charming. There are those who object to the straight, hard 
lines of the rain; but I do not find them untrue, and they are of great 
value in the design. Then, what beauties lurk in this etching, wherever 
one looks into it! The return of the light after rain, than which there 
is nothing more beautiful in nature, gives a wet sparkle to the fields; 
and again we notice how the trees in their dark relief give glory to the 
space of luminous clearness beyond. The wagon on the top of the high 
bank is moving toward the light, and a painter sits by the roadside, 
sketching the passing of the storm. An angler fishes in a pool; lovers, 
hardly discerned, sit together away from the world in a thicket’s 
obscurity. All the plain, so solitary at first sight, is filled with moving 
life. LAURENCE Brnyon. 


51. Landscape with a Square Tower 


Bartscu 218 Hunn 245 
Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1650 


Fourth State 


€ 19 } 


52. 


53. 


Cottection: Fritz Rumpf 


In the Landscape with a Square Tower a building dominates,—an old 
tower of rather blunted outlines, such as Rembrandt loved to crown 
dark hills with in the visionary landscapes of his painting. LAURENCE 
BInYon. 


Landscape with a Hay-Barn and a Flock of 
Sheep 


Bartscu 224 Huinp 241 
Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1650 


Second State 


The delicacy of the Landscape with a Flock of Sheep: is in strong con- 
trast to the “‘ Gold-weigher’s Field.’’ This, too, is one of the master’s 
greatest works, and is certainly one of his two or three finest land- 
scapes. ATHERTON CuRTIS. 


This piece is highly esteemed. It is rightly considered as one of the 
freshest and most beautiful landscapes by the master. CHARLES BLANC. 


Landscape with a Cottage and Hay Barn 
BartscH 225 HiInpd 177. 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1641 

Only State 


The cottage and shed which give the plate its name are in the centre 
of the design, and the dark mass, full of tender shadows and reflec- 
tions, emphasizes by contrast the play of open light on the fields 
stretching on either side, the river, the house nestling in a wood, be- 
yond, and the distant towers of Amsterdam. Though all is treated in 
Rembrandt’s broad way, it is surprising how full, how suggestive of 
intimate detail, the landscape is. As we look at it there comes over 
us the sense of sleepy, bright air and sunshine, the quiet of the fields, 
in which, though nothing outwardly is happening, we are conscious 
of the stir of natural life, of growing things, of flowers and grasses 
and insects, and peaceful human occupations going on unobtrusively ; 
of ‘all the live murmur of a Summer’s day.’’ LaurENcE Brnyon. 


€ 20 } 


54. 


55. 


56. 


Landscape with an Obelisk 
BartscH 227 Hinp 243 

Date attributed: about 1650 
Second State 


Dr. Jan Six refers to the obelisk as one of the boundary stones of 
Amsterdam. He is inclined to locate it on the Sloterweg, but as the 
obelisk that now stands there only goes back to the eighteenth century, 
the identification is a mere conjecture. ARTHUR M. Hinp. 


Cottage with a White Paling 
BartscH 232 Huinp 203 
Signed and (in the second state) dated: Rembrandt f. 1642 


(a) First State, before the date, and before the shading 
on the rising ground to the left of the cottage 


(6) Second State 


In the Cottage with White Palings effective use is made of the broad 
white planks of the fence to enforce the pattern of black and white 
in the design. Here again the subject is placed in the centre with views 
on either side, though the horizon is higher than usual. LauRENCE 
BINYON. 


The Windmill 


BartscH 233 Huinp 179 
Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1641 
Only State 


There is no adventitious impressiveness lent by strong effect of 
light and shadow in this beautiful plate; all is plain and simply ren- 
dered. . . . We feel the stains of weather, the touch of time, on the 
structure; we feel the air about it and the quiet light that rests on 
the far horizon as the eye travels over dike and meadow; we are 
admitted to the subtlety and sensitiveness of a sight transcending our 
own ; and even by some intangible means beyond analysis we partake 
of something of Rembrandt’s actual mind and feeling, his sense of 
what the old mill meant, not merely as a picturesque object to be 
drawn, but as a human element in the landscape, implying the daily 


€ 21 } 


57. 


58. 


59. 


work of human hands and the association of man and earth. Here is 
a classic in its kind which many generations of etchers have found an 
inspiring model. LAuRENCE Brnyon. 


Portraits and Studies 


Old Man shading his Eyes with his Hand 
BartscH 259 Hinp 169 

Date attributed: about 1639 

Second State 


Jan Antonides van der Linden 
BartscH 264 Huinp 268 

Date assigned: 1665 

Sixth State 


Jan Antonides van der Linden (1609-1664) was an eminent physician 
and writer on medicine. He worked at Franeker, Amsterdam and 
Leyden. Rembrandt’s etching is directly based on a painting, dated 
1660, by Abraham van den Tempel, now in ‘The Hague. The plate was 
produced in the earlier part of 1665, for the purpose of serving as a 
frontispiece of one of Van der Linden’s works, but no impression has 
been found in any copy of the book. 


Dr. Faustus 


Bartscu 270 Hinp 260 
Date attributed: about 16352 


(a) Second State 
(6) Third State 


But Rembrandt’s preference now was for penetrating into the world 
of the marvellous. We might say that the mysterious source of light 
itself in Rembrandt’s works reveals itself to us like the apparition 
of a phantom, when we look at the incomparable etching of Doctor 
faustus. . . . thas the charm of the fullest originality, one might say 
the charm of perfect truth. H. Knacxruss. 


4 22 } 


Go. Cornelis Claesz Anslo 


61. 


Bartscu 271 - Hinp 187 
Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1641 


Second State—“ Additional dry-point work (which 
makes this state more effective than the first”). Ar- 
THUR M. Hinp 


Cottections: Earl of Aylesford, Paul Davidsohn 


Cornelis Claesz Anslo was a theological writer and Mennonite minis- 
ter in Amsterdam. 


Clement de Jonghe 

BartscH 272 Hinp 251 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1651 
(a) First State 

(6) Second State 


Print-seller and publisher, worked at Amsterdam about 1640-79. 
The inventory made of his prints gives the earliest list of any consid- 
erable number of Rembrandt’s etchings. 


Nothing in all the great etched work of Rembrandt is in craftsman- 
ship more unobtrusively magnificent, and in its suggestion of complex 
character nothing is more subtle. FREDERICK WEDMORE. 


As to Rembrandt’s etched portrait of Clement de Jonghe, one need 
not point out how happy is the arrangement, how beautiful the effect, 
how impressive the thoughtful expression of this man whom one would 
little suspect of being a merchant occupied with the prosaic details of 
his business, and to whom Rembrandt — who always idealized nature 
according to his own ideas —has been able to give, as in the case of 
Young Haaring, an air of reverie so profound and the austere melan- 
choly of a philosopher in meditation. CuaRLEs BLANc. 


62. Thomas Jacobsz Haaring ( The ‘* Young Haar- 


ing’ ) 
Bartscu 275 Hinpd 288 
Signed and dated: Rembran(dt) f. 1655 


€ 23 } 


63. 


64. 


Second State 


The son of Jacob Haaring (“‘ Old Haaring ’’), whose portrait Rem- 
brandt etched at about the same time. Thomas Jacobsz Haaring was 
entrusted in 1657 and 1658 by the Court of Insolvents with the sale 
of Rembrandt’s goods. He was probably the regular auctioneer of 
debtors’ effects at Amsterdam. 


Jan Lutma 

BartscuH 276 Huinp 290 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1656 
Second State 


Rembrandt produced one of his most masterly portrait-etchings in 
1656, the incomparably picturesque and life-like print of the famous 
goldsmith, Janus Lutma, of Groningen. H. Knacxruss. 


One of his finest portraits, that of Johannes Luima, a most power- 
ful and characteristic study, both of face and figure. P. G. Hamer- 
TON. 


Jan Asselyn 

Bartscu 277 Hinp 227 

Signed and dated: Rembra(ndt) f. 16. . 
Date attributed: about 1647 

Third State 


Cortections: Pierre Mariette 1668, and Pierre Mariette 1670 


Jan Asselyn (born Diepen, near Amsterdam, 1610 ; worked Rome 
and Amsterdam ; died, 1652), a landscape painter of the following 
of Claude, returned from Italy in 1646. He had a deformed hand, 
and was nicknamed Crabbetje in consequence, and was very small in 
stature. 


Three of his very finest portraits were executed about the same time 
as the second portrait of Sylvius: Ephraim Bonus, Jan Asselyn and 
Jan Six. In each of these the power of dry-point and etching to ex- 
press the subtlest gradations of tone is realized to the full. Rembrandt, 
perhaps, never surpassed these masterpieces in the balanced power 
they exhibit. AkraHur M. Hinp. 


4 24 } 


65. 


66. 


Ephraim Bonus 

BartTscH 278 Hinp 226 

Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1647 
Second State 


Of the First State Hind records three impressions only 


Ephraim Bonus (or Bueno) was by birth a Portuguese Jew. He 
practiced as a physician in Amsterdam, and was a burgher of the 
city from 1651. ArrHuR M. Hinp. 


Ephraim Bonus was a Jewish physician ; he has been to see a patient, 
and is still, perhaps, reflecting on the case as he pauses with his hand 
on the banister of the stair. P. G.. HAMERTON. 


Jan Cornelis Sylvius 
BartscH 280 Hinp 225 
Signed and dated: Rembrandt 1646 


(a) Undescribed State between First and Second 
States, with the cross hatchings on the light space 
between the brow and eyelid of the right eye, but 
before the slipped stroke across the upper right angle 
of the border was removed, and with much sulphur- 
tint still showing 


Of the First State Hind records five impressions only 
(6) Second State 


Cortection: Pierre Mariette, 1673 


Jan Cornelis Sylvius was cousin (by marriage) and guardian to 
Rembrandt’s wife, Saskia. After numerous country charges he settled 
at Amsterdam in 1610, officiating first at the Gasthuiskerk, and after 
1622 in the Groote Kerk. He died in 1638, aged 74. 


Five of the finest of the portraits were etched about 1646-7. The 
full-length figure of Rembrandt’s friend and patron, Jan Six, who 
was later Burgomaster of Amsterdam, is one of the noblest of these 
in dignity of composition, but as portraiture does not pretend to the 
subtle character-drawing of the Jan Sylvius or the Portrait of the 
Artist. ARTHUR M. Hinp. 

{25 } 


67. 


68. 


69. 


The following is a translation of the Latin inscription in the lower 
margin : 

This was the face of Sylvius, whose eloquence taught that Christ 
should be adored, and showed to men the true path to Heaven. With 
these lips we heard him speak to the people of Amsterdam, with 
these he preached to the Frisians. Piety and religion were long safe 
in the keeping of an unyielding champion. Brightly shone the light of 
his lite, revered for its virtues, and even in the infirmities of age he 
taught strong men. A lover of sincerity, he disdained all mere pre- 
tense of right nor cared by a fair front alone to please the good. This 
was his belief, that Jesus could be better preached by a nobler life, 
less well by thunders of eloquence. Amsterdam, cherish the memory 
of him who by his character set the standard for the city’s life and 
maintained it by help of God Himself. C. Bartagus. 


No further do I praise his merits which I fain would imitate, but 
seek to present in verse. P.S. 


Head of an Old Man in a High Fur Cap 
BartscH 299 Hunn 135 

Date attributed: about 1635 

Only State 


Cottections: W. Graf von Lepell, Berlin Museum Dupli- 
cate 


Vosmaer regarded it as a study for a head in a picture of the *‘ Pre- 
sentation’’ of 1631 in The Hague. Arruur M. Hinp. 


Curly-Headed Man with a Wry Mouth 
BartscH 305 Hunp 137 

Date attributed: about 1635 

First State 


Portrait of a Boy, in Profile 
Bartscu 310 Hinp 188 
Signed and dated: Rembrandt J: 1641 


Only State 
{ 26 } 


FO, 


730 


72. 


On the basis of the picture by G. Flinck, representing Jacob Cats and 
his royal pupil, Blanc identified this portrait with the young Prince 
William II of Orange (b. 1625). ArrHur M. Hinp. 


It isa delightful vision of youth, demure and chubby, and in its 
dainty drawing of light and silky hair, does even Whistler’s Fanny 
Leyland rival it? FREDERICK WEDMORE. 


The White Negro 
BartscH 339 Huinp 360 
Signed: A de Hae(n) 
Only State 


Cottections: J. C. D. Hebich, Theodore Irwin 


Signed work of Anthony de Haen (Haarlem, Amsterdam, The Hague, 
about 1640-1696). Arruur M. Hinp. 


Old Woman Sleeping 
BartscuH 350 Hunp 129 
Date attributed, about 1635-7 
Only State 


Cottections: Earl of Aylesford, D. G. de Arozarena 


It would indeed be hard to find, either in the work of Rembrandt or 
elsewhere, a subject more beautifully felt, more striking in lifelike 
quality and truth, more charming in chiaroscuro. The relaxation of 
sleep, the weariness of old age, are expressed in the most appealing 
manner. A head by Leonardo da Vinci could not be better drawn, and 
that is saying much. CHARLES BLANC. 


This piece is one of Rembrandt’s best productions. In point of com- 
position, expression, finishing, and effect, it is carried to great perfec- 
tion. THomas WILson. 


Bust of an Old Woman in a High Head-Dress 
BartscH 358 Hinp 83 

Date attributed: about 1631 

Second State 











